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Choosing Flooring For Home Renovation
Flooring is an important element in your home décor, adding style and beauty to your home and tying everything together for an integrated look. At the same time, flooring is a highly practical feature that must perform well and stand the test of time. There is a lot to think about when your home renovations include new flooring. Over the past decade, the marketplace has seen the introduction of new, exciting products. And many traditional products now come in almost unlimited colours, designs and textures at many price levels. With so many choices, you want to take a good look at your options in the early planning stages. Look through home and interior décor magazines, including advertisements. Check the websites of major flooring manufacturers and industry associations for information on selecting and caring for flooring. Visit home shows. Spend time in building supply centres and retailers' showrooms. Tour display models in new housing developments. Once you are ready to proceed, a professional renovator can help you select the most appropriate products for your project and advise you on implications for installation. When making your final decisions, there are a number of things to consider. Materials From hardwood to carpeting to ceramics, most materials can be used in a variety of applications. Spend time familiarizing yourself with the benefits and design possibilities for each type of flooring, including recent popular options such as laminates, cork and stone. Style Traditional or modern? Formal or natural? Light or dark? Pattern or plain? Consider overall compatibility with the style and décor of your home as well as the look you want to achieve. A good starting point is to decide on the main feature in an area (e.g. kitchen cabinets) and then select complementary flooring to create a harmonious look. Some manufacturers' websites allow you to experiment with flooring and colours in "virtual" settings. Durability How much wear and tear will the new flooring be exposed to? If used in high traffic or activity areas, focus on flooring that is durable-resistant to water, wear, stains, scratches, scuff-marks, even burns. With proper selection and maintenance, many products can last the lifetime of your home. Maintenance Today's materials emphasize low-maintenance and easy cleaning, however, some require more care and upkeep than others. Make sure you understand the maintenance requirement of each product, from routine cleaning to dealing with mishaps. Installation Your renovator can advise you on the requirements for installing various types of flooring. What kind of surface preparations are needed-e.g. removal of old tiles or installation of new sub-flooring? Will you need new baseboards or trim? How much will this add to the cost? How long will it take to install the floor? Environmental Sensitives Is anyone in your household sensitive to dust, pet dander and other substances that can collect in carpeting or flooring cracks? Or to glues, grouts and floor finishes that may be used during installation? Fortunately, problems can easily be reduced or avoided. Talk with your renovator. Appropriate solutions may include pre-finished hard-surface flooring and low-emission glues and grouts. Budget How much are you willing and able to spend? Is this your "renovation of a lifetime", or do you plan to move or redo your renovation in the future? Will you want to spend additional money on area rugs? Can you "mix and match" to stretch your budget to include the touches of flooring luxury you may always have wanted? Trends in Flooring Laminate floors combine the look of wood with state-of-the art performance and durability. "Floating" or "clicking" floors can be installed directly over existing floor coverings. Solid wood, a perennial favorite, comes in a plethora of colours and shapes. Create your own patterns, with coloured insets and border strips. Use wide "distressed" planks to recreate yesterday's look. Cork made from tree bark is comfortable on the feet, absorbs noise and is seeing increasing use in high traffic and activity areas. Stone (e.g. limestone, slate, marble) are used to create dramatic visual impressions or rich, natural backgrounds.